Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1887-05-06
TIE ENGLISH COURT.
The SIGNIFICANCE OF THE LORD
CHAMBeRLAlN'S FAMOUS ORDER

lean Ladies-A Picturesque Affair
worth Going to See-Isuckingham
Palace-Americans in london Society.
have been asked often by ladies going to
England this spring as to the presentation to
the queen, which seems suddenly to have
changed Its character. Instead of being an
honor, one would judge from the recent de
cision OF the lord chamberlain that it is an
international insult. A lady, any number of
ladies, may be presented. They may run by
thousands before her majecty, like the wild
horses down the Corso, but they are not
eligible for the court balls, concerts and sub
sequent festivitiesl
So reads the latest order Then of what
| use is presentation
Every one knows that presentation to any
court Is merely recognition of ones rank at
nome, and permesso to enter the society of
the city and country TO which our minister is
accredited Else it is a tiling and formal
ohiilR In which the actors, the receiver and
ehe received are playing part-nerely a
| means to an end. If this is really the inter
probation to be put upon the last order of the
lord chamberlain it is far more Crievous
cause of war than the fisheries question
The queen herself is always polite to Amer
leans. She has reason to be They have
hlied her London of late with a very solvent
! crowd, who can hire horses, give dinners.
support her hotels and be a benefaction to
her tradespeople. London needs the money :;
the Americans have it and spend it freely
They are, as the world knows, great favorites
with the Prince and Princess of Wales. We
uBeff NOT prtpT Iutn fha vic, ,e
Wendell Homes, the ovation paid to him, to
assure our readers that the literary p,onle of
America are well received, from the throne
DOWN Important internarriages have taken
place between EngliShmen and American
women. Shall the mothers and sisters of
6neSe American ladies be displaced at the
court festivities, and the mothers and sisters
OF ladies, no more respected, no more fash
tonahiy placed. be admitteda The thing is
preposterous
Inc presentation itself is a picturesque
affair and worth going to see, although it is a
fatiguing process. A lady must he dressed at
eleven in the morning in full court dress with
train four yards long and three wide: she
must wear a white vail and have three
feathers i'll her hair conspit.uously placed
The lord chamberlain in his instruction.
particularly mentions that these feocneIs
be placed 50 they can be seen In front of the
head. White gloves are also IL rigueur, and
as they are never worn anywhere else except
at weddings that d an item which every lady
must attesii TO.
lhe carriages approach Buckingham palace
In long queue and one waits an bour or
more In line, exposed to the jeers Of the popu-
lace, who look at the ladies dressed for court
ana make comments, laugh and amuse them
serves, One hopes 1t may do them some good.
Tor they look miserable enough Arriving in
the mobile quadrangle of Buckingham palace
the music of the guards band eniivens one.
ana the SILENT splendid figures of the house
hold troops, the hantlSom,St men in the world
set like STATUES on their horses. Nomstter if
the ram is pouring, as it generally is, neither
man nor horse moves
Once inside the palace and your card of
entrance handed to the queens page, some
official takes a cloak and the lady wends bar
way up a magnificent staircase. Another
and another hall is passed and she finds her |
self IN suit of magnificent drawing rooms |
Gentlemen of the household gIitterinc with
uniforms and orders stand about. Soon she |
arrives at the last drawing room, where |
chairs are placed, and the handsome women |
come dropping i'll.
The necessity of court costume, the thre., |
feathers and the vail then becomes appa,ent
She Is amazed at the beautiful effect prc-
duced by this similarity of headlresses con-
tr'sted by the variety of dresses The train
ridiculous elsewhere, looks well here Finally
one sees little turnstile gate and the crowd
begins to move toward it.
1t seems to me, as look back upon it. that
should abolish the turnstile. After tb.
presentation, the next day, one goes to the
palace and to Marlborough house and writes
ones name In the queens book, and in that
OF the Prince of Wales. His royal highness
is said to look over his book carefully. Then
comes great card from the lord chamber
lain with the queens command that Won
should be invited TO the ball at Buckinpham
palace. This is really worth going to and
worth crossing the atlantic to see. Buckinp
ham palace Is not home-it is merely a
grand reception hall for courtly ceremon
lals; but in the evening, with the stairs
banked with flowers and the glory of "A tho1
sand wax candies, it is a banquet hall worthy
of Englands renown
Americans in London suffer from two
causes. One is the jealousy of other Amer,-
cans. The moment one American gets a foot
ing In this brilliant and not too exclusive So
ciety he begins to push away other Ameri-
cans. All the vices of the society snob ripen
In the person newly introduced to the society
Of the great That happens everywhere. The
other cause is the push of the numbers, the
$1,000, all and each one as good as all the rest
1t is not lovely spectacle at the American
legation.
Perhaps we are too large a nation but let
US never forget our national self resrert |
Our minister and his staff seemed, auimated
by the most fervenl desire to serve their |
Certainly if any one COM
)ialned it should not be myself, for | received
very Kindness and attention at their hands !
felt, as we all do N London, that our en-
)assy should be on broader principles. for (
'uch great, powerful, rich republic as ours :,
hould be represented by house as grand ,
Is that of any other embassy in London.
Dur minister should be paid splendidIy. 50 he
,ould entertain Detter than his present salary
'llows, and the nation should be officially on !
par with the empire of Russia, the kingdom
II Italy, the republic of France-Mrs. John
III New York World.